Walking Around Stonetown

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Stonetown - Saturday 2/18

When we arrived at Victoria Hotel we were charmed by the setting opposite Victoria Park, the feeling of the hotel. An old, heavyset woman dressed in black sat in a chair under a tree in front. As we approached the door a gofer guy came out. We asked if they had a room for two. He said yes and started to get a key. With that, the old woman said “no rooms … the toilet doesn’t work.” We had been told by another traveler in Dar that the place was under renovation, but we really wanted a room there so I said, “I’m a mechanic. Let me take a look at it and see if I can fix it.” She agreed.

I went into the room and saw that it indeed was in the process of being completely redone. It was far enough along that with some cleaning up we could have stayed in it though. I looked at the toilet and saw that it needed a fitting, so I realized I couldn’t fix it, so I went back outside.

When I got to the lobby area there was a new person there who spoke English well and with a British accent. It turned out that he, Eddy, was the new owner. The old woman was his mother. Eddy was all for renting a room and showed us another one in process and said we could have it for 12,000 TSh per night. The room was bright and cheery but had no furniture, and the bath wasn’t hooked up. Eddy said it would be ready by dinner time. We agreed to take the room and said we would disappear until 8:00 pm or so.

Eddy locked our bags in his room and we began wandering through the twisty narrow streets of Stonetown. In places there were small parks shaded by large banyan, mango and fig trees. People walked slowly and greeted us with “Jambo”. It reminded us of Jamaica or Puerto Rico. Most of the old buildings had huge carved doors with brass work on them and either metal or wood balcony porches.

As we got closer to the downtown, tourist area the touts began to hit on us. They were frequent but backed off fairly quickly with a “no thank you”. Along the way we came across Amore Mio (my love) restaurant. It is known for its homemade gelato and it had a spectacular view of the harbor, so we stopped in. I ordered a double dip, one chocolate and the other coconut. Boy, were they ever delicious! I don’t think I’ve ever had coconut so crisp and clear before. We dallied there for a while before moving on.

In town we passed small shops and stalls, most selling carved wooden figures or enamel paintings on canvas. The paintings were everywhere and consisted of two genres. The first were stylized Maasai warriors on bold washed backgrounds. The others were fanciful collages of cartoon like animals. These were in brilliant colors and were just happy looking. Each was signed by the painter. We decided they might make a good gift for Asher and Maya so we kept an eye out for artists whose styles we liked best.

Right in the center of town we passed Mitu Tours and stopped in to book a tour of the Spice Farms. Eddy had told us that they had a good one. We also wanted to book our ferry back to Dar. We were told by some fellows in the shop that the booking guy was out somewhere and would be back in an hour or so. We were a bit miffed that we’d have to come back later, but about the time we started to walk out the booking guy came in. We got our spice tour tickets for $10 each, and placed our order for ferry tickets (we would have to pick them up Monday morning).

Soon it started turning dusk; well, actually dusk king of goes by quickly near the equator. The sun kinda just slips under the horizon and pretty soon it’s dark. Anyway, we walked to the waterfront near the old fort where the local fisherman and others sell grilled seafood on open tables all lined up in rows. We paraded down the rows until we saw some that looked interesting. I bought a skewer of grilled kingfish and potatoes and Marie bought a skewer with three enormous grilled shrimp. The fish was good but the shrimp was spectacular.

We used the grilled seafood as an appetizer but still wanted to sit over a beer and have a bit more food. We’d heard that the Archipelago Restaurant was good and it was on our way back to the hotel, so we stopped in. We ordered a whole grilled fish and another fish in coconut lime sauce. Unfortunately, the restaurant was Muslim-owned so they served no alcohol.

We got back to the hotel about 8:00. Our room was almost ready, but not quite. They were still putting sheets on the bed and hanging pieces of cloth tied to the window bars for curtains, so we sat down at a table outside and struck up a conversation with another guest. Her name was Venessa, an Aussie who had worked for a firm in New York City for the past six years. She was in her mid-thirties, had dark hair, and was interested in conversation. Marie and Venessa struck up quite a conversation. Soon my eyes began to sag so I begged off and hit the sack. I guess Marie came into the room at some point because when I woke up the next morning she was there.

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Photos

Winding Streets
Stonetown reminds us of Old San Juan in Puerto Rico

Great Old Doors
Most of the buildings have huge carved wood doors, many with brass fittings and adornments.

Amore Mio Restaurant
They have about the best gelato and iced slushi drinks I've had anywhere

Grilled Seafood In the Park
In the evenings you can buy fresh grilled seafood from any of about a dozen vendors selling their delights on table set up along the waterfront